Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench). It was answered on Thursday, 13 December 2007.

Sudan: Military Helicopters

Question: My Lords, does the Minister recall the meeting with the parliamentary group on Sudan two weeks ago in which he said that, "““once force has been deployed, it is vital that its credibility is not undermined””?" He also criticised the Government of Sudan for trying to determine the composition of that force. How is it possible for the force’s credibility not to be undermined if we do not provide the helicopters?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord is correct—it will be undermined if we do not have the helicopters. I share the view of this whole House: we have to find these helicopters. Having been part of the UN team that originally designed this force, I know that it was the smallest numerical option of those that we offered and its effectiveness was utterly contingent on having the mobility that helicopters would provide. There is no alternative—we have to solve this problem.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 697 c328
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Deployment Helicopters Peacekeeping operations Military aircraft United Nations Sudan African Union Darfur
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk